Nokia 6165 Not a bad phone but missing something

I was forced to replace my last phone a Sanyo 4930 due to an incident involving my washing machine. I was due for a change. I have been purchasing the bar phone primarily because of the battery life.

I chose the Nokia 6165i specifically for its battery life and bluetooth capabilities. the battery is not as good as I had hoped. it seems to run out very quickly if I use the phones games. untouched the battery seems to last for about 4 days... not the 7 it is advertised with. this was not a scientific test it may be that wholly on standby I would get the full 7 days. but it seems like it starts throwing me battery warnings after 4 days regardless.

It drops calls about a often as the 4930 did. the phone mysteriously resets occasionally. never during a call mostly when I am playing mobile games.

the sound quality on the phone was not as good as the 4930 A wired headset solved that problem. the bluetooth was unusable. It might have worked better with a more expensive headset. the one I used was a Cardo Systems 500. pretty cheap.

the camera is pretty good quality although I find its a little slow. I press the button and take a picture 2 seconds later. this lead me to of pictures stuff I just missed. I did not buy the phone for the camera so I was not too disappointed.

it had tons of ringtones < most of which I trashed >and lots of space for more.. it plays mp3 files flawlessly and all of my old qcp files as well. I love the bluetooth update features. it took me a few days to figure out how to extract all of my old numbers from the old phone and convert them to a format that was usable on the new one. I made a backup of my old phone using bitpim and exported the contacts as a vcf file. I then imported that file to outlook. Nokia makes a cool free plugin that allows you to import your outlook contacts. you need to be patient and add them one at a time. it took me about 20 minutes.

Unique phone has what I needed

I've had the 6165 for three weeks. As I understand it, they are available only through Radio Shack until sometime in July. Nokia doesn't even have it on their web site. Items like the 12 volt charger aren't available yet. The phone has a button on it that isn't even mentioned in the manual that Sprint ships! It is really too soon to consider the phone, but it is the only phone available that offers the complete list of features I wanted:

1. Bluetooth2. PC Sync3. Analog roaming.4. Compact clamshell form

Bluetooth is great. I wanted it mainly to use with hands-free system in my car, and that was simple to set up. The car system claims that I could download the phone's address book into the hands-free interface, but I haven't figured out how to do that. It may not be possible with this phone.

The PC sync works great. I use Bluetooth to sync because the cable is too expensive to bother with, but the Bluetooth sync is simple and efficient. I sync Contacts and Calendar with Microsoft Outlook.

I haven't needed the analog roaming yet, so I'll have to presume it to be satisfactory.

General phone attributes are good. It seems to communicate as well as my old phone and the battery lasts quite well. Of course my old phone battery was worn out, but this one is at least as good as the old one was new. Operating the phone is easy, and I like the profiles feature which I didn't have before.

I do have a few complaints, but I'll have to put them in a separate review because I've hit the limit here.

Great phone but for a couple of minor issues

I've had this phone since early July and it has performed quite well for me. Very few dropped calls. I haven't experienced the resets that others mentioned. Signal strength and sound are all good and the blue tooth works well both in my wifes car and with a headset. Haven't had any signal problems when traveling. Infrared also works well. I'm not into data transfers and the like so I can't comment on that other than the infrared transfer went well. Battery life is good for me. Recharge every 3 to 4 days depending on how much I talk and play games. Take very few pics and no videos so those aren't issues with me.

Cons:

I downloaded a couple of ring-tones from Sprint and they didn't work. Got a refund. Recorded them with the voice recorder and assigned them from there.

Voice recorder stores messages in the ring-tones file which is why I was able to do what I did with the ring-tones. Having to go to the ring-tones file to retrieve my voice messages to myself is time consuming and could be easier as it was with my previous Sanyo 8100 phone.

The vibrate alert is really crappy. I prefer to keep my phone on vibrate so that I don't annoy everyone around me with loud rings and music. Not possible on this phone as you can't feel it vibrate in a holster and not very well in a pocket. My old Sanyo 8100 would vibrate itself right off the counter top while the 6165i just sets there and buzzes. I'm considering replacing this phone with the Sanyo 8400 just so I can go silent again. I just absolutely hate those annoying rings and music from everyone else's phones when I'm out and about and hate to add to the racket myself.

The lack of decent vibrate alert is the only reason I'm thinking of replacing this phone. Otherwise, it's been a great phone for me.

CONs:-Battery could be better, but still bearable (I recharge every other day or so, after an hour's talk time and hitting 2/4 bars for battery level)-Phone has "reset" for no apparent reason a few times; this usually happens right after I try to initiate a call. The screen goes blank for 3-5 seconds (but with no start-up tone as far as I can tell) and just goes back to main screen.-I wish it had FM Radio like the 3155i. Right now I just use that phone as a radio. ;)-Might not be worth the full/retail price of about $210. I got it used for $50+, so I'm pretty happy.

Solid Nokia, but they have done better

Trying this phone to make sure issues are cleared up before giving it back to my son. US Cellular service, midAmerica.

The phone's battery was initial problem - defective cell. It was doing bizarre things like losing half life on a vibrate ring, then partially recharging. Shutting off. Also, froze. The good news - I dropped by the repair center, and they reset to factory settings (just to be sure nothing was corrupted) then gave me a new battery. No more issues. Solid performance.

Pros:Uses same Nokia LiIon battery as they have for years. Easy to interchange if you have extras from old phones. It gives great talk time and life. I'm on the phone all the time, never paranoid about battery life. Very dependable reception.Sound quality in-call excellent on both ends. LOUD if you want.Good camera.Blue tooth, infrared.Standard Nokia menus, easy to use if 1st time or Nokia return customer. Lightweight, but solid and durable.Large enough buttons for large hands, though phone is small. Screens are clear and quality.Can use MP3s as ring tones, thereby skirting the US Cellular bend over and pay through the _____ for all ring tones Easy Edge if you want more. Strong vibrate on ring.

Cons:Ringer sounds a bit staticRinger WAY too loud - I have it on three and it still annoys me. Ear piece door just seems awkward and in the way (haven't popped for bluetooth ear piece yet)Missing some of Nokia's usual ring tones, someone else may not notice. I miss them though. New charger with different end than previous Nokia standard. Makes all the chargers we have hanging around obsolete, so we have to keep searching for the NEW Nokia charger.

All in all. A very solid little phone. But, not enough to convince me that something better than the 6255 has come along. I'll keep that until the new class of Nokias that I've heard is coming sometime end 2007 (5 new Nokia CDMA phones for US Cellular service, if they pass testing).

Cons:- Software freezes. I've had to shut the phone down 3 different times as the screen goes completely white and froze. - After taking pictures and deleting them, it gives an "Operation Failed" error. - When capturing video (sometimes) it will freeze when recording and give the "Operation Failed" error. - Side buttons are very sensitive. I've pressed them and ended up calling people my accident when the phone was in my pocket. I've also called people by accident when trying to take the back cover off.

This is just coming from a quick review as there are not many out there, but I seem to be the first to encounter the "Operation Failed" error. I'm going to take it in to see if the phone needs replaced, or it's a Nokia issue, but according to a Nokia rep when I called, all that was recommended was to reset the phone by removing the battery and putting it back -- it didn't work, so I will be taking back in.

not meeting the bar

i don't what page nokia is on but it sure not the one the other manufactuer's are on.they are truly in the back when it comes to features and quality.i've had this phone for about 3 weeks and i hate it.it's like nite and day from the last phone i owned.because i use my phone in my business i was forced to get it because its all the store had in stock at the time so i took a chance and lost big time.my previous phone was a samsung A900(great phone).i was in a boating accident and lost the phone in the lake.this phone is good for a teen-ager or a first time phone owner or someone who's not concerned with great graphics.it only has 2 decent ringtones and the display is too cartoonish.the phone reacts slow and a lot of the features does not even come close too the features of samsung or sanyo.if u have a cheaper phone this may be a good upgrade for you.but if u have a great phone and need something to tie u over for a while this is not the choice,wait for the good stuff.this one is CHEAP!CHEAP!CHEAP!